We study the influence of the growth conditions on the residual strain and related optical and structural properties in the case of 3C-SiC films grown on (001) silicon substrates. We show that two possible mechanisms compete to manage the final sample bow: one is by controlling the composition of the gaseous phase (C/Si ratio) the other one by adjusting the growth temperature and duration (creep effect). In both cases, we compare the low temperature photoluminescence spectra of samples grown under tensile or compressive final stress. We show that better results can be obtained when using the creep effect.